“The product they’re selling is data, and we, the users, convert our lives to data for the benefit of the digital giants. Just as some ants farm aphids for the honeydew that oozes from them when they feed, so Google farms us for the data that our digital lives exude. Ants keep predatory insects away from where their aphids feed; Gmail keeps the spammers out of our inboxes. It doesn’t feel like a human or democratic relationship, even if both sides benefit.”

This is mainstream acknowledgement that the business model of Silicon Valley companies like Google and Facebook is people farming. This is what we’ve been saying for ages and it’s good to see that people are starting to listen and understand.